Recent Crustal Uplift in Yellowstone National Park

Pelton, John R.; Smith, Robert B.

doi:10.1126/science.206.4423.1179

Cited by 76 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…A resurvey of 1923 level lines in 1975-1977 along the road system of Yellowstone showed doming within the caldera ( Fig. 1), with maximum uplift at Le Hardys Rapids (LHR) of about 0.8 m (Pelton and Smith, 1979). Between 1976 and resurveys revealed an additional 0.15 m uplift of LHR, with a pattern similar to that between (Dzurisin and Yamashita, 1987.…”

mentioning

confidence: 79%

Post-glacial inflation-deflation cycles, tilting, and faulting in the Yellowstone Caldera based on Yellowstone Lake shorelines

Pierce¹,

Cannon²,

Meyer³

et al. 2002

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The Yellowstone caldera, like many other later Quaternary calderas of the world, exhibits dramatic unrest. Between 1923 and, the center of the Yellowstone caldera rose nearly one meter along an axis between its two resurgent domes Smith, 1979, Dzurisin andYamashita, 1987). From 1985From until 1995, it subsided at about two cm/yr (Dzurisin and others, 1990). More recent radar interferometry studies show renewed inflation of the northeastern resurgent dome between 1995 and 1996; this inflation migrated to the southwestern resurgent dome from 1996 to 1997 (Wicks and others, 1998).We extend this record back in time using dated geomorphic evidence of postglacial Yellowstone Lake shorelines around the northern shore, and Yellowstone River levels in the outlet area. We date these shorelines using carbon isotopic and archeological methods. Following Meyer and Locke (1986) and Locke and Meyer (1994), we identify the modern shoreline as S1 (1.9 ± 0.3 m above the lake gage datum), map paleoshoreline terraces S2 to S6, and infer that the prominent shorelines were cut during intracaldera uplift episodes that produced rising water levels. Doming along the caldera axis reduces the gradient of the Yellowstone River from Le Hardys Rapids to the Yellowstone Lake outlet and ultimately causes an increase in lake level. The 1923 doming is part of a longer uplift episode that has reduced the Yellowstone River gradient to a "pool" with a drop of only 0.25 m over most of this 5 km reach. We also present new evidence that doming has caused submergence of some Holocene lake and river levels.Shoreline S5 is about 14 m above datum and estimated to be ~12.6 ka, because it post-dates a large hydrothermal explosion deposit from the Mary Bay area (MB-II) that occurred ~13 ka. S4 formed about 8 m above datum ~10.7 ka as dated by archeology and 14 C, and was accompanied by offset on the Fishing Bridge fault. About 9.7 ka, the Yellowstone River eroded the "S-meander", followed by a ~5 m rise in lake level to S2. The lowest generally recognizable shoreline is S2. It is ~5 m above datum (3 m above S1) and is ~8 ka, as dated on both sides of the outlet. Yellowstone Lake and the river near Fishing Bridge were 5-6 m below their present level about 3-4 ka, as indicated by 14 C ages from submerged beach deposits, drowned valleys, and submerged Yellowstone River gravels. Thus, the lake in the outlet region has been below or near its present level for about half the time since a 1 km-thick icecap melted from the Yellowstone Lake basin about 16 ka.The amplitude of two rises in lake and river level can be estimated based on the altitude of LeHardys Rapids, indicators of former lake and river levels, and reconstruction of the river gradient from the outlet to Le Hardys Rapids. Both between ~9.5 ka and ~8.5 ka, and after ~3 ka, Le Hardys Rapids (LHR) was uplifted about 8 meters above the outlet, suggesting a cyclic deformation process. Older possible rises in lake level are suggested by locations where the ~10.7 ka S4 truncates older shorelines, an...

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confidence: 79%

Post-glacial inflation-deflation cycles, tilting, and faulting in the Yellowstone Caldera based on Yellowstone Lake shorelines

Pierce¹,

Cannon²,

Meyer³

et al. 2002

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show abstract

“…More than three decades after the discovery of surface uplift at Yellowstone (Pelton and Smith, 1979;, the understanding of its causes is still a work in progress. Consideration of poroelastic and thermoelastic effects, and of nonelastic rheology-which were ignored in most previous studies of Yellowstone but now are amenable to investigation-calls into question any conclusion about the causes of deformation (including our preferred model, see below).…”

Section: Observational Constraints On Deformation Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

History of surface displacements at the Yellowstone Caldera, Wyoming, from leveling surveys and InSAR observations, 1923-2008

Dzurisin¹,

Wicks²,

Poland³

2012

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“…36 Because New Zealand is a continental region surrounded by oceans the plate 37 tectonic history is well known and the total amount of offset on its major faults 38 can be estimated [16]. There is, therefore, an opportunity to calibrate total underlying assumption is that a sample of 10 y of GPS data provides strain 48 and strain rates that are also applicable to the My time scale.…”

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confidence: 99%

A comparison of GPS solutions for strain and SKS fast directions: Implications for modes of shear in the mantle of a plate boundary zone

Houlié¹,

Stern²

2012

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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Recent Crustal Uplift in Yellowstone National Park

Cited by 76 publications

References 6 publications

Post-glacial inflation-deflation cycles, tilting, and faulting in the Yellowstone Caldera based on Yellowstone Lake shorelines

Post-glacial inflation-deflation cycles, tilting, and faulting in the Yellowstone Caldera based on Yellowstone Lake shorelines

History of surface displacements at the Yellowstone Caldera, Wyoming, from leveling surveys and InSAR observations, 1923-2008

A comparison of GPS solutions for strain and SKS fast directions: Implications for modes of shear in the mantle of a plate boundary zone

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